Galaxy S4 Google Edition may NOT receive Nexus quick updates

[planoman]

The other option, which we have no way to prove, is that the HTC and Samsung updates will come at the same time as the Google update, but the Google update will be later than it would have been otherwise. So rather than just the HTC and Samsung Google phones getting updated later, we'll all get updated later. It will just look like the Samsung and HTC updates are earlier.

The optimist in me wants to think that what this could mean is that Samsung and HTC will be forced to work harder/earlier on kernel upgrades for new Android versions which could mean more timely updates for their non Google Edition phones. I'm not sure how much I really believe that will happen, though.

Edit: Don't forget that any difference in hardware (display, touchscreen, audio, camera) could mean more kernel updates. It's not just features that are unique to each phone that are different, even very similarly acting hardware could cause software differences. So it isn't just the Beats Audio and Smartcover, it's any hardware difference between the two.

huh? I added and fast too to some of my posts above...

 

[Ry]

We won't know how fast the GPe phones will get updated until an update like Android 4.3 ships.

 

[Aquila]

That quote from the play store also doesn't say updated by Google... It just says automatically, which could just mean ota.

Transmitted through spacetime.

 

[planoman]

That quote from the play store also doesn't say updated by Google... It just says automatically, which could just mean ota.

Transmitted through spacetime.

whatever...

 

[garublador]

Yes, read what I posted from the goole play website...looks like a lot of conjecture going on here. Some posters are trying to make an issue of something that isn't an issue. Google and the OEM's all have a track record you can look at. Without the carriers, I predict it will be very close in time to the Nexus pushes if not the same. International Samsung of which I have owned one, got updated all the time! I feel confident that if the carriers are out of the loop the updates will come.

Did you order one?

Of course it's conjecture, that's what the "may" in "may not receive" means. Saying it won't affect the schedule at all is also conjecture. People assume that Google just makes a new version of Android and it will automatically work on these phones, which is not the case. Android has to be somewhat customized for each unique set of hardware. That has not been made obvious in the announcements for these phones. You'd have to either read an article like that or know about mobile computing design to get that information. There is no 100% "pure" Android.

My guess is that they will all be released at the same time, but we will have no way of knowing if it's later than it would have been if the GE S4 and One phones didn't exist. They can still be affecting the release date even if they are all released at the same time. I agree that the carriers are likely the bottleneck when it comes to updates, but anything that takes work has the potential to affect the schedule. It's more work to make three versions of Android than it is to make one, so there's a potential for a delay, even if it's transparent to the end user. The fact that the update will be through the Google Play store has literally nothing to do with that.

 

[planoman]

Whatever.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[kgbkny]

I agree that the carriers are likely the bottleneck when it comes to updates

They certainly are. For this reason, the U.S. and Canadian carrier variants are usually the last to get updates. A good example is AT&T's Galaxy S3, which is still running on 4.1.1. Meanwhile, every other carrier has already released 4.1.2 months ago.

 

[Ry]

whatever...

Good answer.

 

[Ry]

Yes, read what I posted from the goole play website...looks like a lot of conjecture going on here. Some posters are trying to make an issue of something that isn't an issue. Google and the OEM's all have a track record you can look at. Without the carriers, I predict it will be very close in time to the Nexus pushes if not the same. International Samsung of which I have owned one, got updated all the time! I feel confident that if the carriers are out of the loop the updates will come.

Did you order one?

Google and the OEMs certainly have a track record. But just how relevant is that history? The GPe phones are not Nexus phones.

Again, we won't know until there's an actual update to push.